Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine
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Semin Respir Crit Care Med · Aug 2015
ReviewThe Role of Noninvasive Ventilation in the Hospital and Outpatient Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Positive pressure noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has become widely accepted in the treatment of both hospitalized and outpatient subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The support has evolved over the past two decades to be part of first-line management in acute exacerbations of COPD and is also instrumental in discontinuing mechanical ventilation in COPD patients with acute respiratory failure. It is also suitable for treatment of COPD with other associated conditions including pneumonia, following lung resectional surgery, with concomitant obstructive sleep apnea and as part of end-of-life care. ⋯ However, an approach with higher pressures with a goal of significant reduction in daytime PaCO2 may be an effective strategy. NIV can also facilitate exercise training in pulmonary rehabilitation. A portable device which can augment tidal volume during ambulation and other activities of daily living may further expand the use of NIV in COPD patients.
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Semin Respir Crit Care Med · Aug 2015
ReviewSurgical Approaches to Treating Emphysema: Lung Volume Reduction Surgery, Bullectomy, and Lung Transplantation.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common and morbid progressive disease where treatment is focused on improving dyspnea, reducing exacerbations, attenuating comorbidities, and improving quality of life. Surgical therapy can be beneficial to a carefully selected subset of individuals and is the subject of this review. The National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT) has not only demonstrated the efficacy of lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) but has also provided many lessons regarding advanced emphysema. ⋯ Careful patient selection is paramount to success, as there clearly are patients in whom LVRS increases mortality. Giant bullae are rare, but bullectomy has been demonstrated to improve dyspnea and lung function in cases where the bulla occupies at least one-third of the hemithorax and compresses some adjacent lung tissue. For patients with chronic respiratory failure due to COPD who have not improved despite maximal surgical and medical therapy, lung transplantation remains an option in those without significant comorbid conditions.
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Delivery of medication to sites of action through airways has been used for centuries but has gained momentum in recent decades. Currently available modes of aerosol delivery offer advantages but still there are shortcomings. Delivery of active agents to sites of action is affected by many factors beyond the characteristics of the delivery devices, including the coordination between inhalation and actuation and dependence on the patient's inspiratory flow and breathing pattern. ⋯ Further, smart devices can provide feedback to patients. Novel inhaler technologies, separately or in combination with new therapeutic agents, are in development not only for respiratory diseases but also for diseases of other systems. This article reviews some of the recent clinically relevant advances in aerosol delivery devices.
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Semin Respir Crit Care Med · Aug 2015
ReviewComorbidities and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Prevalence, Influence on Outcomes, and Management.
Comorbidities impact a large proportion of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with over 80% of patients with COPD estimated to have at least one comorbid chronic condition. Guidelines for the treatment of COPD are just now incorporating comorbidities to their management recommendations of COPD, and it is becoming increasingly clear that multimorbidity as well as specific comorbidities have strong associations with mortality and clinical outcomes in COPD, including dyspnea, exercise capacity, quality of life, healthcare utilization, and exacerbation risk. Appropriately, there has been an increased focus upon describing the burden of comorbidity in the COPD population and incorporating this information into existing efforts to better understand the clinical and phenotypic heterogeneity of this group. In this article, we summarize existing knowledge about comorbidity burden and specific comorbidities in COPD, focusing on prevalence estimates, association with outcomes, and existing knowledge about treatment strategies.